Monday's Personal Finance stories

An older house can come with plenty of charm, but also with a host of nagging problems. Drafty windows, cold floors, creaky stairs, flickering lights and odd noises are part and parcel of living in a property that has seen its share of owners over the years. The funny thing is, all of those quirks could have nothing to do with the house itself and you might just find them in a newer house as well. If it's haunted.

This is certainly the time of year when haunted houses are top of mind. But in real estate parlance what we're really talking about are "stigmatized" properties, places where something notorious has happened, where paranormal activity has been observed or where unsightly occurrences lurk in close proximity. Those things can make a house a bit hard to sell. But they can also make it a celebrity in its own right.

While many folks are just too squeamish to share quarters with the dearly departed, there are plenty who don't mind the impositions a spirited roommate creates. They rarely hog the bathroom and can be quite entertaining at parties, for instance. That can actually make haunted houses worth more than they would be worth otherwise.

In our lead story, we look at how buyers and sellers cope with stigmatized properties and how real estate agents go about marketing them. Read Amy Hoak's story, plus learn Kristen Gerencher's eight tips for keeping Halloween candy from overwhelming your kids and check out the first part of our food, wine and home entertainment series that looks at the growing popularity of wine storage and the resurgence of French wine, on Monday's Personal Finance pages.

Homes with a haunting past don't scare away every buyer

The Reuters were looking for something old, something with character when they started their home search. About eight years ago, the couple found it and purchased a 260-year-old house in Metuchen, N.J. No one had inhabited the place in a year and a half. No living person, at least. See full story.

Eight ways to deal with Halloween's sweet overload

The candy is coming! The candy is coming! Many American kids excited about the Halloween loot they want to score on trick-or-treat night will face parents who are less than thrilled at the prospect of having a massive stash remain on hand for weeks. Whether they're concerned about kids packing on pounds, harming their teeth or experiencing too many sugar highs, parents can help children part with the bulk of their candy bonanza in innovative ways, including offering them cash or exchanges, nutrition experts and parents said. See full story.

FOOD, WINE & HOME ENTERTAINMENT

Wine storage areas popular for fashion and function at home

As wine drinking grows more popular in the United States so too does wine storage. It seems there are a lot of bottles piling up in American cellars. But dedicated wine storage isn't exclusive to the homes of the wealthy. Sometimes it's not even a cellar, but instead a room or area on the main floor, or even a specially designed standalone unit. See Food, Wine and Home Entertainment.

French wines regaining popularity

After a big slump between 2002 and last year, French wines are coming back to American tables at a rapidly growing pace. Brought on by a political brouhaha over France's position on the Iraq war, along with a weak dollar and an industry that was slow to adapt to changing U.S. consumers, the bad times now seem to be over. See Food, Wine and Home Entertainment.

CONSUMER WATCH

The latest online scams

Remember when hackers were young computer geeks gone bad, in search of infamy through viruses that wreak havoc on computers worldwide? Soon, you may wish that's all you had to worry about online. These days, hackers are going ever more covert in their effort to get their hands on a new goal: Money. See full story.

Caution urged as online stock scams multiply

A growing wave of high-tech fraud is starting to add up to real losses in the online brokerage business, and sending clear warning signals to investors that they need to protect themselves from cyber-thieves after their cash. See Weekend Edition.

Real disposable incomes up 0.8%, biggest rise in a year

Core consumer price inflation retreated slightly in September, helping to give real after-tax incomes their best gain in a year, the government said Monday. With incomes rising faster than spending, the personal savings rate improved to a negative 0.2%, the best reading in more than a year, the Commerce Department reported. The savings rate has been negative for 18 straight months. See Economic Report.

INVESTING

ETF opens gates to private equity investing

Private equity is going public. A new exchange-traded fund gives ordinary investors access to the alluring, potentially lucrative world of start-ups, business loans and corporate buyouts -- traditionally the exclusive domain of large financial institutions and wealthy individuals. See ETF Investing.

There is no one right way to invest in mutual funds

More than 3,000 financial advisers headed here last week trying to learn something at the Financial Planning Association's annual convention. For most in attendance, the idea was to uncover ideas that make them better practitioners, helping them to improve the services and returns they produce for clients. An ordinary consumer set loose in the place would logically jump to the conclusion that investing is complex, especially if you want to do it right. But the right message to take away is much different. It's that there is no one right way to invest in funds. See Chuck Jaffe.

Trumpeting Donald Trump's stock

What do you get when you combine Donald Trump, a collection of mysterious overseas shareholders and a dollop of hype? A cautionary tale about tiny stocks and how they are sometimes marketed. See story from WSJ.com.

Three large-cap stock picks

General Electric, International Paper and NiSource are three examples of large-cap stocks where John Linehan, fund manager of the T Rowe Price Value Fund, sees signs of life. MarketWatch's Jonathan Burton has the interview. See Video Report.

Manager looks for undiscovered stocks

Frank Morris, manager of the Delaware Small Cap Core Fund, says the fund looks for "undiscovered" companies and talks about five of his top stock picks. MarketWatch's Tom Middleton has the report. See Video Report.

AUTOMOBILES

2007 Saturn Aura XR

"If I hadn't seen the logo on the front, I'd have thought you were driving something else," our good car friend J.J. told us when he got a gander at Saturn's Aura. Like everyone else, we love a surprise. In this case, it came in the form of the Aura XR, a very nice four-door sedan that looked and drove like something that cost a whole lot more. See Auto Review.

Just off the boat from Italy, a soccer mom's Ferrari

Full disclosure: Both my vehicles have kids' car seats strapped into the back. So, when offered the chance to drive the new Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, the first person I called for advice was Elaine Wynn, wife of casino mogul Steve Wynn. She buys a new Ferrari every year. "Wear pants," Mrs. Wynn suggested firmly. So, clad in my favorite blue Elie Tahari slacks, I've slipped down into the low-slung, carbon-fiber-and-leather driver's seat of the 599 with my dignity intact. See Drive Buys.

REAL ESTATE

Swapping for a vacation home

Do you dream of a Fifth Avenue shopping spree or would you prefer to hit the slopes in Aspen over Thanksgiving? Of course, in these sought-after locales finding lodgings that are merely overpriced instead of grossly outrageous is not easy. Hotel rates have been on a tear lately and they are practically out of reach during peak vacation times. But don't discard your dreams just yet. See Marshall Loeb's Daily Money Tip.

Pain from U.S. housing slump is likely to linger

Just when the gloomier pundits were starting to enjoy the housing slump, optimists are piping up to declare it could be almost over. See story from WSJ.com.

Should you try to sell your home during the holiday season?

We put our house on the market late in June. Since then, we have had lots of people come through but no bites. We have been told that our house will be a teardown and that it probably will be sold to a contractor or builder. Since we're coming to the holiday season and winter months, should we take it off the market for November through the end of January and get the kick of a new listing in February? See House Talk.

Five takes on how to squeeze more space out of a closet

Closet space is coveted in homes, but most people still can't make order out of the chaos that lurks behind closed doors. Not that serious money isn't spent trying. Americans drop more than $1.2 billion a year to spruce up closets, more than 20% of what they spend on home organization overall, according to Fredonia Group, a market researcher. See story from RealEstateJournal.

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